Off to the Drs in the morning :(

[Starlight84]

Can’t take anymore of heartburn and constipation reducing me to tears. I don’t even have to eat or drink anything now. I can just lay on the sofa for a relax and boom there it is! I suffered bad with the girls and this time is no different.
Constipation is just yuck but I’m scared I’m getting the onset of piles looking on the Nhs site about them and I definitely don’t want them!
Oh and a recent course of antibiotics has now left me with thrush! So will bring that up as well!

Hopefully I leave with things to help me before I go up the wall!

You could go to the chemist for all of these things.

The pharmacist can help you with all of that, would be cheaper over the counter than a prescription charge too. Hope it helps!

omeprazole is your friend! Ask the Dr. During one of my pregnancies I was going through Gaviscon like water and at £9 a bottle that was bankrupting us! Ranitidine didn't touch it but onepazole was a gift from God. I really hope you get better soon. Heartburn almost broke me down in every pregnancy.

Try some tinned prunes for your breakfast. They are fruit and much better than taking laxatives all the time.

I’m unsure who you are complaining about? This is all treatable and nobody’s fault. You don’t need a doctor

Please speak to your husband

Agree on the omeprazole. Works great.

@Alicewond we're has she said it's someone's fault? OP is struggling with some pretty nasty pregnancy side effects. Yes they're treatable and she's pro actively trying to solve it. For those saying she doesn't need a Dr I call bullshit.

For me none of the over the counter stuff touched my heartburn and it was ruining my life. So yes I absolutely needed a Dr.

Do not cancel the appointment go and bring up wanting heartburn medication.

Also has OP said her husband and a medical practitioner? How exactly would he solve this?

You need ranitidine for the heartburn. Everything else a chemist could help with.

Sorry you're suffering OP....and that many of the replies here telling you to buy the things you need and not see a doctor.

To those that have replied with that....OP can see a doctor if she wants to and is entitled to free prescriptions as she's pregnant, no idea of OPs financial situation but not everyone can afford to pay for treatment for 3 different problems.

@Alicewond what on earth are you on about? 🤨

OP, I also had really bag heartburn and stupidly just suffered in silence! Definitely ask the doctor for sometimes stronger. You sound like you have it all at the moment bless you. Hope you get some medication x

You can get ranitidine otc.

I'd keep the gp appointment, you can get this over the counter but from experience I've found a lot of pharmacists won't touch me and I've ended up at the doctor's anyway!

Or you know, maybe your husband can sort you out? 🙄 Hope you get sorted OP, heartburn and constipation are miserable. (I find a strong coffee can help!)

I had terrible heartburn and constipation throughout all of my pregnancies. The heart burn got to the point that I was aspirating in my sleep and nearly had to go on maternity leave at 25 weeks because my sleep was so interrupted and I wasn't functioning well during the day at all. My constipation was so bad that I was regularly having to use enemas and manual impactions ugh!. Do go to the Dr's. Not all OTC medication (like coloxyl and senna) are the best choice during pregnancy and some are outright contraindicated with evidence changing all of the time.

The treatment I had gave me a lot of relief and I was able to go back to functioning.

All of the posters saying that you're ridiculous for considering getting an expert opinion from your GP are wrong. Pregnancy can make things that other people find a nuisance and turn them into something far more.

? What is it with MN and avoiding DR's at all cost.....,

BTW I did end up with piles.

I really feel for you, @Starlight84 and could have typed almost the same thing back at about 17 weeks. I spoke to my midwife who recommended I book a GP appointment because she felt I’d benefit from stronger medication than I could buy otc- and, as she said, there’s a reason they allow pregnant women to have free prescriptions.

I called the surgery to request a telephone consultation for the problems and my callback was from the practice pharmacist who prescribed omeprazole (I’d been eating Rennie’s and drinking Gaviscon as if they were going out of fashion) for the reflux; cosmocol for the constipation and a steroid pile cream for them too.

What a difference they’ve made; I now only need to take the occasional dose of Rennie’s and still have 3/4 of the bottle of Gaviscon I started the week I was given the prescription!! I am by no means as regular on the toilet as I was before I was pregnant but I can now go every couple of days without pain or straining - and, if I get to 3 days without going I take the cosmocol to get things on the move again. Lastly, the cream hasn’t done a great deal for the piles but they’re probably no worse than they were when I started it - and I’ll provably arrange to get them dealt with privately once the babies are here!!

Don’t suffer in silence and I hope your GP is sympathetic to your situation and prescribed medication to help xx

You'll need the Dr because if my 4 pregnancies were anything to go by, pharmacist would never give me anything while obviously preg. Especially not thrush treatment, and thrush is absolute hell.

My pharmacist refused to even sell me gaviscon while I was pregnant, without doctors permission, so i dont think you're wrong for going to see your gp. I hope you feel better soon, it sounds miserable

Do you really think I would bother a GP if I hadn’t battled half of my pregnancy with remedies??? I’ve tried everything going and I am in pain.

I don’t have a husband I am a single mum.

What gives people the right to be so judgemental!

@Alicewond I am shocked by your pure ignorance. Words fail me!

@Mileysmiley believe me I have been eating prunes daily. I already have bowels problems so pregnancy makes them even more problematic. With my second pregnancy I was only nearly week four with no movement and faced hospital.

Apart from a uti that was picked up at my 16 weeks appointment I’ve not had to see a GP for over a year so I am definitely not one to go lightly unless I have exhausted every other avenue!

I am going because I have brought everything going and I’m at a loss now!

Such a shame my husband can’t help me haha!!

Wow! These are probably some of the most a hole responses I've seen on here in a while

Hope the doc sorts things for you OP

For the constipation though I can recommend a prune puree, used to really help me, I used to simmer prunes in some water for fifteen mins, take the stones out and blend with the water. One tin used to make quite a bit and I'd have a small glass before bed each night, it really helped, think I got about four or five glasses out of each tin, prune juice just didn't quite cut it for me.

Thank you to the posters with sensible comments. Xx

@annlee3817 I’ve been eating them from a bag as the juice wasn’t effective either. It’s an absolute nightmare! I don’t have a bad diet either which makes all this worse! Thank you xx

@MonChatEstMagnifique it does get expensive when things over the counter aren’t cutting it! Been buying gaviscon and lactulose like it’s going out of fashion and a tube of canesten is £8!! I’m 19 weeks tomorrow so I think I’ve given it a good go without going to the GP! Thank you and @Contraceptionismyfriend for your kind comments. Just baffled by some people’s comments!! I shall let you know what the doctor gives me. I’m sure ranitidine is what I had with my daughter and it didn’t work x